The finale for the debut season of “The Golden Bachelorette” is right around the corner, and Joan Vassos has a difficult decision to make. Vassos opened up about her journey on the podcast of former “The Bachelorette” star Kaitlyn Bristowe, and she revealed she had some regrets about her decisions.
During the October 29 episode of Bristowe’s “Off the Vine” podcast,” Vassos was asked if there were any men from “The Golden Bachelorette” she regretted eliminating.
She responded, “Yeah…I mean, I feel like I needed more time.” Bristowe admitted she just had to know which men Vassos felt fell into that category.
“I feel like I needed more time with Mark and I feel like I needed more time with Jordan, honestly,” Vassos revealed.
Joan Vassos Worried About Jordan Heller’s Hesitations
During Bristowe’s podcast, Vassos went into depth regarding her relationships with both Mark Anderson and Jordan Heller.
When Vassos talked about her hometown dates, she admitted, “Two of them went somewhat like I expected and two didn’t go like I expected.” As she opened up further, she noted that her dates with Guy Gansert and Chock Chapple were great.
However, her hometown dates with Heller and Pascal Ibgui were “Not so great.” She clarified, “It’s not that they weren’t so great, they were surprising.”
With Heller, Vassos noted, “I meet with Jordan in the beginning of the date, and he expresses that maybe he’s not quite ready and doesn’t know if he ever will be.”
“He just says that we’ve had a slow burn, very true. He was very uncomfortable in the beginning of this whole journey,” Vassos added.
Vassos explained, “He had a hard time talking to me. It took a little while to establish a rapport, but we did get there…I got to have a really good time with him. He’s a lot of fun.”
Heller surprised her with what he said, she admitted. She also noted, however, “I got it. I wasn’t at the love point with him either.” Vassos felt she was more hopeful than Heller that they could get there, though.
While Ibgui was struggling with his connection to Vassos at that point too, she sensed he could “get there” and it felt unlikely Heller could.
“Jordan was pretty sure he wasn’t going to get to the end and be ready for a committed relationship…I wasn’t sure that Jordan even wanted to be there,” Vassos explained.
Mark Anderson Experienced Great Personal Growth
When Vassos spoke about Anderson, she mentioned she had requested that producers add him to her cast of suitors for “The Golden Bachelorette” after seeing him on Joey Graziadei’s season of “The Bachelor” with Kelsey Anderson.
“I fell in love with him when he was on Joey’s season when he was just Kelsey’s dad, and what a great father he was,” she shared.
Vassos eliminated Anderson during their one-on-one yacht date, and she explained why during Bristowe’s podcast.
“I did finally start having some feelings for him. That yacht date was really, really good,” Vassos began.
She mentioned that Anderson has been widowed longer than she has, and he gave her some great advice. Vassos also talked about the personal growth Anderson experienced while filming the show.
Vassos noted Anderson bonded deeply with the other men on “The Golden Bachelorette.” However, “When I thought about our relationship and where he and I were, and gave him many opportunities to say, how do I fit into this kind of thing?”
“In the end, I felt like he was becoming more emotionally ready, but I wasn’t positive he was picturing a life with me. He was just now picturing a life with somebody else,” Vassos explained.
She doesn’t have any hard feelings, though. Vassos told Bristowe, “I think some girl out there is going to get an amazing man.”
While Vassos may regret eliminating Heller and Anderson when she did, she never indicated she was ultimately unhappy with her decisions regarding keeping the men she did.
